Washing-machine.



G. W. LEWIS..

wAsHlNG MAcm-NE. MPUCATION FILED lULV I7 |916.

Patented Apr. 16,1918.

tained in a' loose condition not matted or.

'rus PATENT IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO GRINNELL WASHING MACHINE COllllIPAN'Y, 0F GRINN ELL, lIO'W'A.

WASHING-Macallan.

' Specication of Letters Patent. PatetediApr. 16, 1918. I

Application led l'uly 17, 1916. Serial No. 109,673.

To all 'whom z't may concern.'

Beit known that I, GEORGE a citizen of the United States, and resident of Grinnell, in the county of Poweshiek and State of Iowa, have invented a certain newl and useful Washing-Machine, of which' the followin isI a specification.

The o ject of my invention is tov provide a washing machine of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, of the kind designed to be operated by power derived from va small electric motor, internal combustion and especially adapted for purposes.

engine or the like, domestic laundry A further object is to provide a washing machine of this kind in which the clothes during the washing process will be mainmassed together, so that, the soap -water may be forced through every partic e of the clothes to loosen the dirt and remove it from the clothes.

A further object is to provide a washing machine of this character in which delicate garments will not be injured by being rubbed upon roughened or corrugated surfaces, or

torn by the action of mechanical agitators,l

and at the same time to provide-means whereby rapidly moving currents fabric and all parts of the fabric will be successively presented to this action of the forced currents of soapy water.

A further object is to provide a washing machine of this class in which the clothes being washed'cannot become lodged in any\ part of the clothes container, and partlcu-` larly cannot become lodged or held at the water outlet openings ofthe clothes container.

A further object is to provide a washing machine having its body So shaped and arranged as toprovide also a contamer for an inclosed centrifugal extractor or wringer.

A further object is to provide improved means for forcing currents of water through the clothes container by means of va small electric motor connected direct to awater propeller without any gears orworking parts cause unnecessary friction.

W. Lnwis,

of soapy water will be forced through every particle of the My'invention consists in `\the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in s in which: v

u `igure 1 shows a side elevation of awashing machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a central, longitudinal, vertical sectional view of the same.

Fig. 3 showsv a horizontalsectional viewon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. y

Fig. 4 shows a horizontal, sectional view on the line 4-4.- of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 shows a detail, vertical, sectional view'illustrating the motor shaft and the4 means for connecting it to the propeller without gears or acking devices, and

Fig. 6 shows a etail view illustrating the screenl between the voverflow compartment and the water propeller compartment.

Referrin to the accompanying drawings, I have use the reference numeral 10 to indicate the uprightframe members of the machine andll the horizontal frame members. Mounted in the central portion of the frame is a clothes containing cylinder 12, arranged horizontally and preferably made ofsheet metal closed atboth ends and openaatits top. The ends of the cylinder 12-are1extended upwardly and formvthe sides 13.of the4 overiiow compartment. This 'overflow vcompartment extends a considerable distance `may be raised to provide access to the overlowcompartment 13.

At one end of the washing machine body is an upright cylindrical propeller containin the' accompanying draw-V ing chamber 16, having a detachable top 17 and also having a communicating tube 18 connecting it with the overfiow chamber `at a point below the top of the 'clothescontaining chamber 12. Arranged in this com.- municating tube 18 is a screen 20, slidably mounted in guides 19 arranged on the end wall 14, so that the screen maybe raised and loweredy to coveror uncoverv the communie.

eating tube 18.

Mounted on the machine frame directly is a small electric motor 21, having a shaft 22. This shaft 22 extends upwardly to a.

point near the top of the chamber 16 and has mounted on its upper end a tube 25 of considerablylarger diameter than the shaft, and spaced apart from the shaft. The upper end of this tube is fixed to the shaft 22 by means of the Winged nut 29 mounted on the screw-threaded upper end 28 of the shaft 22 to hold the top of the tube 25 firmly against the shoulder 27 of theshaft 22.

On the lower end of the tube 25 is a water propeller 26, of ordinary construction.

The bottom of the cylindrical Ichamber 16 is formed with an opening through which the shaft 22 extends, and a tube 23 surrounds the shaft but is spaced apart from it and is connected to the bottom member of the chamber 16. This tube 23 extends upwardly inside of the tube 25 and is provided at its upper end with a bearing 24 Jfor the upper end of the shaft 22. The upper end of the tube 25 is perforated to permit the escape of water that backs up through the tube 25 and around the tube 23 on account of the pressure from the propeller 26, otherwisethe water would till the space between the bearing 24 and the tube 25 and run down betweenw the bearing and shaft into the motor. p

By this arrangement it is obvious that the tube 23 performs the double function ot providing a bearing for the upper end of the shaft 22 and at the same time it prevents the water in the chamber 16 from leaking out through the openin in the chamber 16 and through which the iaft 22 is projected.

At the bottomV of the propeller chamber 16 there is a passageway 32 leading from the chamber 16 to the interior of the clothes container. This passageway is tapered, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, and is widestat its discharge end on the interior of the clothes container, there being in the clothes container at such discharge end a narrow slot 31 extending the full width of the clothes container and covered by a deflector 30, which prevents clothes from entering the slot and which also gives a proper direction to the current of water that isforced into the clothes container.

At the top of the clothes container is a hinged cover 33 provided with perforations 34 and with a resilient deiector plate 35. This deector plate is connected to the free edge of the cover' and is inclined downwardly and in a directionV toward the water propeller, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. A handle 36. is provided on the upper part of the free edge of the hinged cover.

At the end of the frame opposite from the propeller 1s the wringer which comprises .an

upright shaft 37 having fixed to Vits upper end a clothes containing cylinder 42 provided l latence with perforations 43. This shaft 37 extends through a bearing'40 and has at its lower end a pulley 45 connected by a belt 46 with a pulley 44 on the lower end of the motor shaft 22. Y

The cylindrical clothes 4container 42 is open at its top and is contained within a i water distributing cylinder 41. This water distributing cylinder is open at its top and has a single opening 42a in its bottom. It is rotatably -mounted with relation to the clothes container 42, so that it may be turned to any desired position. This cylinder 41 is also contained within a stationary cylindrical chamber 38 having an adjustable top 39 and a series of discharge spouts 48 leading to points away from the clothes container, and a discharge spout 47 leading to the clothes container. The clothes to be dried are placed in the receptacle 42, and as this receptacle is rotated the water is thrown from them by centrifugal action into the cylinder 41. The water in this cylinder then runs through the opening 42 into one or the other of the discharge spouts 47 and 48, depending upon the position in which the cylinder 41 has been placed, so that if desired the water from the clothes may be returned to the washing machine clothes con tainer or may be discharged into the other tubs or receptacles.

Tn practical operation I iirst preferably ill the container with soapy water to a point approximately level with the top of the clothes container, so that some water will be in the overflow receptacle at the point marked 50 in Fig. 2. Then the clothes to be cleaned are placed within the clothes receptacle and the motor 21 is started. This causes the propeller 26 to be rapidly rotated and a current of water is forced downwardly through the passageway 32 and is guided by the delector plate 30 in a circular direction around the interior ofthe clothescontainer. The lheld against the inside of the cover by these currents of water; and second, the deiiector 35 engages the clothes and slightly retards the yparts thereof which are thus engaged, e

permltting the parts that are not in contact with the deflector to move ahead faster than the arts that are in contact, thus causing the clot es to be turned over and to be 'ven a somewhat independent rotary motlon of their own within the container, withthe effeet that each time that the clothes go soapy water.

circle, some parts of the clothes or of the outer layer of clothes, will be engaged by this deflector plate and retarded and turned over, whereby new` surfaces or new clothes are exposed for the action of the current of The water that passes out through the cover 33 flows through the passageway 18 back into the propeller conta1ner.\ This independent rotary motion of the clothes is further obtained bythe use of the yielding defleetor plate. As the clothes circle around the clothes container,

they strike the deflector platel and stop. They are then held until sulicient clothes have been accumulated so that the increased water pressure'l'against the consequent area of clothes will press up the deiiector plate' and allow the clothes to pass around and downwardly. Experience' shows that the yielding dcfiector 1plate accomplishes this re-v sult much better t an a stationary one.

I havefound that in practice the action of the propeller on the soapy water creates a very large amount of suds with a comparatively small amount of soap, and that in doing an ordinary washing with my improved machine very satisfactory results can be obtained by the use of about half the amount of soap that is required in washing machines that depend for their action on rubbing processes.

Another advantage gained by my im- I proved washing device is that the clothes are cleaned very quickly and thoroughly, probably due to the facts that the clothes never become massed or pilled compactly in any part. of the tub, and various layers of the clothes stand spread apart from each other as they travel around within the tub and new surfaces are constantly being presented to the action of the water currents.

The specific gravity of ordinary garments is somewhat greater than that of the water, and hence they tend to sink to the bottom of the tub. However, by means of my improvement it does not matter whether the clothes are of greater or less specific gravity than the water, because they are constantly being forced up and downv within the tub from the bottom to the top of the container.

One of the advantages of my inventionisv that a comparatively small clothes container may be used to hold a comparatively large amount of clothes, because there is nothing within the container to occupy space, such for instance, as the agitators or rubbing devices, ordinarily employed in washing` machines and contained within the tub.V In my improvement the entire space within the clothes container is occupied by the clothes and soapy water. l There is a material advantage in my imclothes container and the overflow chamber.

having both the The overflow chamber is important because clothes are being washed, and prevents this suds from overflowing, and at the same time this overflow chamber provides means whereby theclothes container may befilled to a point approximately near its top, but it does not matter particularly whether it is filled slightly above or slightly below the top of the clothes container. Hence without the overflow chamber it would be just exactly the right amount of water in the clothes.container Another advantage of my invention is that by providing the three essential parts, to wit the clothescontainer, the overflow chamber and the extractor containing chamber, all mounted on the same frame and communicating with each other, these parts are all intimately associated and connected with each other and make for convenience and economy;

I have -in a separate application set forth more particularly the structural details of the extractor .mechanism and have not claimed the extractor specifically in this 'application, but it is shown herein and described solely for the purpose of showing its arrangement and combination with the overlflow chamber and the clothes container.

. I claim as my invention:

of a substantially cylindrical clothes container, having its axis arranged horizontally, there being perforations in the top of said clothes container, a water conducting means communicating with said perforations and also communicating with the interior of the clothes container near the bottom thereof, and means in said water chamber for forcing a current of lwater downwardly through it.`

2. In a washing machine, the combination of a substantially cylindrical clothes container, having its axis arranged horizontally, there being perforations in the top of said clothes container, extending to a point below the top of the interior of the container, a water conducting means communicating with said perforations and also communicating with the interior of the clothes container near the bottom thereof, means in said water difficult to get communicating communicating chamber for forcing a cur- 'iso arourglfa horizontally arranged axis will pass ut 'ofthecontainer through said perforations, aj deiector connected with' the hinged cover adjacent to the perforations, an upright chamber at the side of the clothes `container, communicating at its upper portion with,said-perforations, and also communicatng at its lower portion with .thenterior of the clothes container, and means in said upright chamber for forcing` a current of'water downwardly through it.

4. A washingmachine comprising a sub-l4 stantially cylindrical clothes 'container with its axis arranged horizontally, the top of said container beingopen, a hinged perforated cover for the top, the,cperforations therein eirtendixig to a point below the interior of the, top so thatf water mmovingf through the container in a circular directlon terior of the clothes container, means in saidl nacaaca upright member for forcing a current of water downwardly throu h it, means for connecting the upright. camber with'the clothes container, comprising a narrow slotted discharge opening-.of a length substantially that of t e length of the clothes 'container2 and adelector adjacent to saidslot within the-clothes container to deflect the water in a circular direction'aroundthe interior of the clothes container.'-

5. ln a washing machine, the'combination of a clothes containing chamber, an upright tube adjacent to the clothes containing chamber and communicating with it at both ends, an upright shaft extended through said tube, a small tube surrounding the shaft and forming a water-tight joint with the bottom of the said upright tube, a bearing at its upper end for the shaft, a hollow shaft 4fixed to the upper end of the said shaft and extended downwardly over the tube surrounding the shaft to a point. near the bottom'of the upright tube, and a propeller on the lower end of said hollow shaft, for the purposes stated.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 5, 1916.

' encuen w. Lewis. 

